


Under New Management

by digitalduckie



Series: Falloutverse: The Man in Black [1]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Explicit Language, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-03-15
Packaged: 2019-03-31 14:03:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13976664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/digitalduckie/pseuds/digitalduckie
Summary: Royce achieves his personal goal of taking control of Nuka World.





	Under New Management

The lot of raiders stared down on him, drenched by his own victory and tinted by the neon lights of what had once been an amusement park attraction. If he were more savvy, he would have known it was a court for bumper cars. If he had even cared, he might have known. But what he did know was that electricity and water don't mix and that many prewar structures had systems in place to spray their interiors with water in the event of a fire. It had been a risk to set it off. It could have been defunct after two hundred years of disrepair. Lucky for him, as he held his lighter to one of the sensitive spouts, a shower sprung forth and the man who had been running the parks suffered a particularly painful death in what he had believed was an invincible suit of armor.

Now Royce stood atop the sculptural bottle, panting and disheveled and body still pumping with adrenaline. As the spray subsided to trickles and drips and the alarm urging occupants to evacuate became the only sound, he jerked his scarf down off of his face.

"Every one of you assholes works for me, now!" He turned, making sure to address every side of the arena. "And if you have any problems with that, you get ONE chance to walk out the gates by your own will. Either way, Nuka World belongs to me!"

There were murmurs among the raiders, and then some cheers and some boos, and even the obnoxious idiot over the radio got a few jeers in. All disgruntled that this total stranger had barged in and wormed his way through their obstacle course to kill their man and take their land. Of course, raiders loved doing the very same thing to others though Royce had no misconceptions that they would all roll over easily.

"Now everybody just shut up!" A gruff southern voice from the man who had stood solitary on the lower level. Prior to the fight, he had been gearing up the boss and ensuring his power armor was in shape. He was likely second in command and Royce would need to think fast in order to take the parks from his grasp before he could lay claim.

Once the crowd finally heeded the man, he began to plead his case. "We all know Colter was a waste of space. Each and every one of you was complaining about it every day. Now we've got a chance to have someone who clearly wants this."

Or maybe Royce would have to give the man a bonus for his vote of confidence. He climbed down from his position atop the bottle and crossed the arena to come face to face with him. The glass between them was dingy and it only served to further mar his face. A bulbous nose, skin pot-marked with scars and worn with the experience of the struggle of a life in the wasteland. An eye patch for character, or so Royce was going to assume. Who knew what horror might lie under there?

"You seem a smart man." He greeted and was honest. It was always a pleasure to find someone who would recognize his abilities.

"As do you. But these folks aren't always so easily convinced."

"I'll cut you a deal," Royce paused.

"Gage. Porter Gage."

"Royce Martin. Gage, you can open up that door, let me in, and reap the rewards. Or you can be the one to blame when this whole place falls to shit and not because you're some sort of dumb ass who can't run this place but because you're someone who thought himself so smart that he stubbornly refused to do the best thing for his park and his people."

"You can ease up on the threats. I'll let you in and we'll talk, but there's no guarantees." Gage remained stoic though there appeared a permanent melancholy to his droopy eyes. A man run ragged perhaps; disinterested in arguments.

Once the door was opened, Royce could more accurately measure up to him. Gage was taller and broader though the yellow cage-like armor he wore may have been deceptive. Royce's own oversized coat often created the illusion of someone smaller or larger than he was, depending on the lighting.

"I don't like wasting time, Gage, and I doubt you do, either. So, tell me last week's garbage had some sort of headquarters to work from." He removed his gloves before jerking his thumb at Colter's remains.

\-------------------------------

"An entire year has gone by and all you've managed to do is install an obstacle course?"

"None of us have been happy with the progress. That's why I'm willing to consider taking a chance on you." Royce was beginning to wonder if Gage's perpetual kicked puppy look was his natural state or the onset of depression. It wasn't terribly fitting of a raider either way and he pitied the man.

"Okay, fine. So first things first, we shut that piece of crap down." Royce crossed the Cola Cars off the map. Maybe later they could repurpose the space but for the time being, the Gauntlet had to go.

"The thing is, Boss-"

"Boss?" His heart leaped and Royce fought to restrain shivers. It wasn't as if he hadn't been called such things before. Boss, sir, and even master on occasion. But this time it really cemented Nuka World as his.

"If you're going to run the place, then yes, Boss." Bless Gage for his patience. He must have had a lot of practice.

"I'm sorry, it's fine. Go on."

"The thing is the Gauntlet kept the crew entertained. Morale is already low enough as it is."

"Uh huh well the Gauntlet takes away resources we could put to better use elsewhere. And I don't like the idea of the bulk of our staff congregating in a single location like that. It's a liability."

"That makes sense."

"Thank you. I knew you were reasonable. So, what else is there?" Royce scanned the map though it was still a prewar edition with none of the updates made by either the settlers before or the current raider occupants. He would have to have an artistically inclined member work up a new one.

"There's the market of course."

"I suppose we keep that for now. I'll take a visit and see how business is doing. Next?"

"Next door, in the amphitheater is where Mason and the Pack stay." Royce made note. "Up here is the Parlor. That's the Black kids with the Operators. And our neighbors in the mountain are Nesha and the Disciples."

"How tenuous would you say the alliance is?" Royce looked up from his notes, making eye contact and looking for an honest answer.

"Extremely. It was difficult enough getting them to agree to work together to storm the place."

"And that was your doing?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I pulled some strings."

"Can I trust you behind my back?"

"More than I can trust you ahead of me."

"I already like you, Gage. You're a hoot!" Royce laughed, slapping a hand against the bar top.

"I want to assure you, however, that you can trust me. At least to be honest and consistent. I am not beyond back stabbing and betrayal, but I will never lie. So if you ever suspect something is coming, I'll let you know if you're right." He stuck his hand out to shake on it, beaming the entire time the other man hesitated and kept his own hand to himself.

"Oof, I mean it. I understand why you would be concerned. I would be, too. I'd keep a very close watch on myself. But I would not march my ass all the way up from the Capital and lose every single one of my men only to take over Nuka World to fuck over some poor little raiders. So if that still seems more likely than the Lord's honest truth that I am here to do business, real business... if our discussions so far have not indicated some semblance of a desire to Get Shit Done, then by all means you deserve to see what I'll do. You're either with me, or you're not." Once more, Royce offered his hand and was delighted when, after a deep breath as though bracing to dive into the deep end, Gage shook it in return.

"When do we start, Boss?"

"We already have."


End file.
